Soup Hits the Spot: LAX-IAD First Class on AA74

For this week’s Meal of the Week, I want to share something that I hope airlines will take seriously: soup is the way to a passenger’s heart.

I could do a post on the dozens of soups I have enjoyed over the years on carriers from around the world, but I want to focus on American Airlines today. People (rightfully) complain that food on AA has tremendously deteriorated in quality and now lags behind Delta and United.

It is a rare occasion I find myself on American Airlines and the only AA first class domestic meal I had last year was ravioli from Washington National to Chicago, a route that United does not even serve meals on. But as AA wonders why its loyal road warriors continue to complain about the food, let me offer this solution: just serve soup.

This meal is from October 2012–I got a heck of a good deal on AA.

I was Executive Platinum at the time and my upgrades cleared right at the window.

For the redeye back to Washington Dulles, one of the choices was hot mushroom soup. Sure, hot nuts to start followed by soup with croutons and two bread rolls is a carb bomb, but I remember how much I appreciated having a bowl of soup on a cold autumn night.

People appreciate something warm to eat and soup is so easy. Warm it up, pour into a bowl, and serve it. I hope we see more soup on more airlines.

About Author

Matthew

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he
travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 120
countries over the last decade. Working both in the aviation industry
and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in the New York
Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BBC, Fox News,
CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Al Jazeera, Toronto Star, and on NPR. Studying
international relations, American government, and later obtaining a
law degree, Matthew has a plethora of knowledge outside the travel
industry that leads to a unique writing perspective. He has served in
the United States Air Force, on Capitol Hill, and in the White House.
His Live and Let's Fly blog shares the latest news in the airline
industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs and promotions, and
detailed reports of his worldwide travel. His writings on
penandpassport.com offer more general musings on life from the eyes of a frequent traveler. He also founded awardexpert.com, a
highly-personalized consulting service that aids clients in the
effective use of their credit card points and frequent flyer miles.
Clients range from retirees seeking to carefully use their nest egg of
points to multinational corporations entrusting Matthew with the
direction and coordination of company travel.